Stygia

Baatorian Layer
Order:	Fifth
Realms:	Ankhwugaht Sheyruushk Tantlin

Nearly the entire infinite layer of Stygia is a great frozen sea, a place of crushing ice floes and mammoth icebergs. Constant lightning wipes the skies clean, with thunder following in its wake, rumbling across the icy plain and creating a steady, subdued roar. The sea's open only where the River Styx moves fastest, the current preventing the surface from totally icing over. Tiny arctic plants grow in some places, sending root tendrils deep into the ice to take what little nourishment there is to be found on this layer. Where the plants grow the thickest are areas of icy swamps, places that aren't totally inhospitable. Unfortunately, the danger of falling through the ice increases exponentially in these warmer areas, and the swamps are also home to a wide variety of creatures that find these areas significantly more comfortable than others.

Some bloods say the headwaters of the River Styx are found here, hence the name of the layer. Regardless of the truth, the waters of the Styx are particularly concentrated here, and anyone who comes into contact with the river is in danger of losing more than his life. His entire memory is at risk and with it his spirit.

Ice floes are the dominant surface here, upon which cities and castles are built. The greatest city of the layer is Tantlin, but there's another important ice floe near the City of Ice as well. Prince Levistus rules this layer from inside this ice. Though he's frozen deep within the iceberg, he's fully aware of what's happening in his layer, and he deploys his troops accordingly. The chant is that he's the one who controls the amnizu, and that's the reason they're so untrustworthy when it comes to the pit fiends.

There's more to Stygia than Prince Levistus and Tantlin and the city's unnamed pit fiend. There's also Sheyruushk and Ankhwugaht, the realms of Sekolah and Set, respectively. One of them's below the sea, the other above; the rulers of both layers are vying to wrestle control of the layer from Levistus. One's brutal and staightforward, the other subtle as a scorpion in the shade.

Baatorian Layers

Avernus . Dis . Minauros . Phlegethos . Stygia . Malbolge . Maladomini . Cania . Nessus